Apparatus for laundering clothes and the like



May 1 T. D. REEVE 4 ,277

APPARATUS FOR LAUNDERING CLOTHES AND THE LIKE Filed May 15, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 25, 1948 APPARATUS FOR LAUNDERING CLOTHES AND THE LIKE Thomas Dalby Reeve, London, England Application May 15, 1944, Serial No. 535,662 In Great Britain April 27, 1943 2 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved apparatus for laundering articles such as garments, bedding and other articles which are usually washed and cleaned by laundries. The present practice in Laundries for dealing with soiled articles is to place them in a drum, usually containing a rotary cage, the drum being fed with a succession of cleansing and rinsin liquors at various temperatures up to 212 F. ihe articles have to be an appreciable time in the drum during which they are subjected to frictional movement. They are then removed and transported by hand to separate and distinct water extracting apparatus.

The method is wasteful of cleansing materials, heat and, labor and is conducive to loss of weight and substance by the articles being cleansed owing to the frictional rotary movement, and there is risk of damage by tearing of the articles by the process of removal from one apparatus to another.

The severity of existing mechanical Washing processes is due to the fact that most soiled or foreign matter is grease bound into the fabric and before the soil or foreign matter can be removed the grease must be liquefied by heat and subsequently emulsified by suitable chemicals to prevent re-deposit on the articles.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome these disadvantages and to provide an proved apparatus for, laundering.

Accordingly the present invention provides an apparatus for laundering wherein the articles to be laundered are first treated with a volatile organic solvent capable of dissolving grease, then freed from the solvent and washed in one or more aqueous liquids.

According to one embodiment of the invention the articles to be laundered are first immersed in a bath containing a volatile organic solvent capable of dissolving grease, then freed from the solvent and washed by immersion in one or more baths containing an aqueous liquid.

Preferably the volatile organic solvent capable of dissolving grease is trichlerethylene but other solvents of this kind may be employed, e. g., tetrachlorethane, carbon tetrachloride and light hydrocarbon distillates, although these latter are not recommended owing to the risk of fire.

In the washing process, water and suitable d tergents such as soap, soda and the sodium salts of sulphated higher aliphatic alcohols will be used.

After the washing the articles will in general be subjected to bleaching or rinsing, followed by rinsing with, if desired, starching, followed by drying, which may be effected by hydro-extracting, squeezing, heating or by freezing, the ice form-ed being removed by mechanical means followed by a short treatment with hot air or other gases. All the abovementioned treatments may be efiected in baths or chambers through which the articles are passed continuously after leaving the washing vessel or chamber.

Sprayers, agitators, rotary scrubbers, beaters, possers and the like can be operated in the baths according to the nature of treatment.

After drying the articles may be conveyed by a further conveyor to an ironing machine of any usual laundry type from which the articles will emerge dried and ironed. If manual operation of controls of the appropriate machinery is required for the ironing, the conveying means can carry the articles to the ironing machine at a reasonable rate for handling by the operator.

blueing and further The apparatus of the invention comprises means for feeding articles to be laundered to a vessel or chamber for treatment with a volatile organic solvent, a second vessel or chamber in which said volatile organic solvent is separated from said articles, a conveyor to convey said articles from the first-mentioned vessel 01' chamber to the second vessel or chamber, one or more vessels or chambers in which the articles are subjected to a washing process and a conveyor to convey said articles from the second vessel ,or chamber to the last-mentioned vessels or chambers.

According to the invention baths are employed through which the articles are conveyed by means of band conveyors.

The invention will now be further described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which:

Fig. 1A is a side elevation of one end of an apparatus according to one embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 1B is a side elevation of the other end of the apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a detail of apparatus shown in Figs. 1A, 13.

Referring to Figs. 1A, 1B and 2 of the drawings, a feed band I driven in the direction of the arrow by the rollers 2 feeds the articles to be treated on to the stainless steel wire conveyor belt 3 driven in the direction of the arrow by rollers 4. The conveyor belt 3 carrying the articles passes into the degreasing bath 5, the belt passing between the rollers 6 loaded by springs I and the the rollers l mounted in the bottom of the bath 5. Guide belts 8 are provided, which keep the articles fiat on the conveyor 3 and prevent them from rolling round the rollers. Similar belts are also provided in the other treatment baths hereinafter referred to. The rollers 6 and It! may be covered with compressed cotton or other suitable material, andaperturesll are provided to'allow free circulation of the volatile organic solvent, e. g. trichlorethylene, in the bath 5. The volatile organic solvent is pumped to the bath through the pipe I 2 by pump I 3 and leaves the bath .by pipe l4 passing through filter l5 and then by pipe [6 back to the pump 13. If desired a part or the whole of the solvent maybe removed from time to time through pipe Ma controlled by valve Mb. On reaching the end of the bath 5 the articles on the belt 3 pass between the squeeze rollers H to expel solvent therefrom and then pass into the vessel 18 for the removal of the residual solvent by passage through the heated rollers I 9. Solvent vapor is sucked from the vessel 1.8 through the trunk'20 by the extracting fan 21 .and is condensed in the pipe 22 from whenceit runs back into the bath :5. It will be understood that the pipe 22 and the bath 5 may :be water-jacketed or refrigerated as necessary by means (not shown) and'it .will be noted that the bath'fi except for the narrow inlet and outlet is entirely enclosed. Articles leaving the .vessel 18 on the belt 3 are transferred to the canvas conveyor belt 23 driven by rollers 24 in the direction of the arrow and pass into the washing bath .25 passing between rollers :25 and 27, the rollers 26 being spring-loaded in the same manner as the rollers 6 in bath 5. Washingliquid is pumped into the bath '25 through the pipe 28 by pump 29, the liquid leaving the bath through pipe 30 and being returned through filter 3i and pipe 32 to the pipe 2-3. If desired a part or the whole of the liquid may be removed from time to time through pipe 30a controlled by valve 30b. The articles leaving the bath 25 pass through the squeeze rollers 33 and are then conveyed by the cotton and rubber or other material conveyor belt 34 driven in the direction of the arrow by the rollers 35 into the bleaching bath 36. Bleaching liquor is circulated in the bath 36 by the pump 3! and pipes 38 and 39 analogous to the system used in the preceding baths. In the bath 36 the belt 34 passes under the rollers 40 thence into the blueing bath 4| under ,the

1. An apparatus for laundering comprising a substantially closed vessel for treating articles to be laundered with a volatile organic solvent, a conveyor belt to feed articles to said vessel, a conveyor belt in said vessel and a plurality of successively adjacent guide belts disposed above the said last-mentioned conveyor belt, said guide belts-being narrower than the conveyor belt and rollers 42. Liquor is circulated in this bath by the pump 43 and pipes 44 and 45 analogous to the system used in the preceding baths. The articles then pass into the first rinsing 'bath 43 under rollers 41, rinsing water being circulated by pump 48 and pipes 49 and 50 analogous to the system employed in the preceding baths. The articles then pass into the second rinsing bath 5! under rollers 52, rinsing water being circulated by pump 53 and pipes 54 and 55 analogous to the system employed in the preceding baths. The articles then pass between the rubber-covered pressure squeeze rollers 56 on to the feed band- 51 driven in the direction of the arrow by the rollers 58 and then to the multi-roll ironer 59 or any ironer of conventional construction.

-I claim:

oif-set with respect to each other so that every part of the articles is capable of being subjected to treatment with the solvent whilst passing through the vessel, a second vessel for treating the articles with a washing liquid, a conveyor belt to convey the articles between said first vessel and said second vessel, a conveyor belt in said second vessel and a plurality of successively adjacent guide belts disposed above the last-mentioned conveyor belt, said guide belts being narrower than said conveyor belt and off-set with respect to each other so that every part of the articles is capable of being subjected to treatment with the washing liquid whilst passing through the vessel, and a conveyor belt to convey articles from the second vessel.

2. An apparatus for laundering comprising a substantially closed vessel divided into ,two parts, the first part serving as a bath adapted to contain organic solvent and the second part being provided with means for removing the said solvent, a conveyor belt to feed articles to said vessel, a conveyor belt in said vessel and a plurality of successively adjacent guide belts disposed above the said last-mentioned conveyor belt, said guide belts being narrower than the conveyor belt and off-set with respect to each other so that every part of the articles is capable of being subjected to treatment with the solvent whilst passing through the first part of said vessel and that solvent is capable of being removed from every part of the articles in the second part of the vessel, a second vessel for treating the articles with a washing liquid, a conveyor belt to convey the articles between said first vessel and said second vessel, a conveyor belt in said second vessel and a plurality of successively adjacent guide belts disposed above the last-mentioned eonveyorzbelt, said guide belts being narrower than said conveyor belt and oiT-set with respect to each other so that every part of the articles is capable of being subjected to treatment with the washing liquid whilst passing through the vessel, and a conveyor belt to convey articles from the second vessel.

THOMAS DALBY REEVE.

REFERENCE S CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 355,930 Hartley Jan. 11, 1887 668,502 Dear Feb. 19, 1901 899,339 Shuman Sept. 22, 1908 1,402,020 Smith Jan. 3, 1922 2,015,893 Greenleaf July 25, 1932 2,144,157 Jorgenson Jan. '17, 1939 2,268,590 Hinnekens Jan. 6, 1942 

